I'm not baptized yet, so I can't vote yet, but there was a time when I said I wouldn't join. I wanted to, but had issues: women's ordination, cremation, etc. I was also a bit more of a "liberal" thinker in those days. My conversion was a slow process, but thanks to our poster Panagiotis and lots of research, I finally came around.

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Author of "Tojet" (fantasy) and "The Lighthouse" (Gothic), info available at my website URL.

On my journey to Orthodoxy, I once said, "I would not join the Orthodox Church" but the Holy Spirit touched me as I read about the early Church and I knew that the Orthodox Church was where that Church was and I became Orthodox.

I'm still Catholic and I'm still in active with my Catholic Parish Priest as well as an ongoing dialogue with an Orthodox Parish Priest. I am actively studying Orthodoxy and Patristics and find them very interesting but I'm not sure I can 'convert' myself and my family....

Pray for me. God Bless.

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St Basil the Great (330-379 A.D.): “I think then that the one goal of all who are really and truly serving the Lord ought to be to bring back to union the churches who have at different times and in diverse manners divided from one another.”

From the time that I attended my first Orthodox liturgical service (which was vespers) I knew that I was home. Of course, I did lots of reading to confirm this intuition. Before attending an Orthodox service, I just had the vague notion that Orthodoxy was like some kind of Catholic Church of the East. I respected the Church in so far as it went, but I didn't really know about its identity.

I am in the same boat as IGNATIUS, "I'm still Catholic and I'm still in active with my Catholic Parish Priest as well as an ongoing dialogue with an Orthodox Parish Priest. I am actively studying Orthodoxy and Patristics and find them very interesting but I'm not sure I can 'convert' myself and my family...."

I was baptized a Roman Catholic. I was raised a Roman Catholic. I voted "other", however, because I can't honestly say that I ever declared that I would never join the Orthodox Church, it simply was never an issue.

On the other hand, the Catholic Church has had some serious problems over the past 40+ years though I gather many on this forum would say there have been serious problems in the Catholic Church for a few centuries.

I am simply searching for the Truth and joined this forum in an effort to gather more information. Reading some of the posts on this forum have already shown me that at least some of what I was taught about Orthodox doctrine (by Catholics) is false. The fact that even pre-Vatican II sources mischaracterized (whether intentionally or unintentionally out of ignorance, I don't know) the doctrines of the Orthodox troubles me greatly.

I intend to contribute very little to this forum. It is my desire to simply learn about the Orthodox and to understand the viewpoint of the disagreements between the Orthodox and the Catholics.

Never said it, but wasn't baptized...rather, chrismated...being picky, I know.

Ten years ago this is definitely not where I would have pictured myself today; now I can't see myself anywhere else.

Yes, a year before my chrismation, I would have burned an icon.

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

Before i discovered Orthodoxy I wondered what religion was like the early Christians. I considered Shia Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodoxy. I did research on all three of them. I chose Orthodoxy. The reason why i chose Orthodoxy was because Islam and Catholicism had fatal flaws in them and Orthodoxy had no flaws at all. So now I'm an Orthodox Catecumen on the way to chrismation.

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One is Orthodox all the time every day, in every situation of life, or one is not really Orthodox at all.-Father Seraphim Rose

Before i discovered Orthodoxy I wondered what religion was like the early Christians. I considered Shia Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodoxy. I did research on all three of them. I chose Orthodoxy. The reason why i chose Orthodoxy was because Islam and Catholicism had fatal flaws in them and Orthodoxy had no flaws at all. So now I'm an Orthodox Catecumen on the way to chrismation.

I am curious on two points:

1) How did you see Islam as being related to early Christianity?

2) What do you see as the fatal flaw(s) of Catholicism?

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Through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, may Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.

Pray that we may be one, as Christ and His Father are one. (John 17:20ff)

I thought that Islam would be related to early Christianity because there was a sect of Christians called the Ebionites. But i found that Islam had way too many rules.

The problem that i had with Catholicism was over the Pope. I belive that he was to be the first among equals, not to rule the whole Christian Church. (plus just recently the Pope dropped the Title "Patriarch of the West")

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One is Orthodox all the time every day, in every situation of life, or one is not really Orthodox at all.-Father Seraphim Rose

I thought that Islam would be related to early Christianity because there was a sect of Christians called the Ebionites. But i found that Islam had way too many rules.

The problem that i had with Catholicism was over the Pope. I belive that he was to be the first among equals, not to rule the whole Christian Church. (plus just recently the Pope dropped the Title "Patriarch of the West")

Thanks for the information - though I am unfamiliar with the Ebionites.

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Through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, may Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.

Pray that we may be one, as Christ and His Father are one. (John 17:20ff)

If you compared these people to the Orthodox Church, you would know right off the bat that the Ebionites were heritics.

That is very interesting. I seriously considered Islam for less than a year and came close to conversion. My discovery of the Ebionites was also a reason why I considered it. They were similar in beliefs to Muslims, but they denied the Virgin Birth. I looked at Shia Islam, but I felt that the Sunni were closer to Muhammad's teachings. I really liked the Sufis and found many similarities between Christian mysticism and the Sufis. For me, the rules were not discouraging at all and that would have been a bad reason not to convert (or revert as Muslims say...). It really came down to the concept of God and Christ (especially forgiveness of sins/atonement). Once I came to understand the Trinity as monotheism and the proper view of atonement, I could not possibly consider Islam. Plus, the martyrs and miracles were too great to ignore. On top of that, I truly experienced God's presence, the sweet smells of fragrances and the greatest unspeakable joy (not just feeling good, but an inner joy) while reading about Orthodoxy. I cannot explain it--you'll just have to take my honest word for it.

Last weekend, I made my intentions known to the priest that I would like to enter into the Orthodox Church. It was the weekend of my 20th birthday and I felt that it would be an ideal time...Please pray for me as I continue my journey (it has been over 3 years now).

I was originally baptized a Roman Catholic which the Antiochian Orthodox Church viewed as a valid baptism. But, no I never said that I would never be Orthodox. My father's family was Orthodox and as I got older I began to admire the Orthodox churhc from afar until I finally took the plunge.

God bless you on your journey.

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Save us o' Son of God, who art risen from the dead, as we sing to thee Alleluia!

Last weekend, I made my intentions known to the priest that I would like to enter into the Orthodox Church. It was the weekend of my 20th birthday and I felt that it would be an ideal time...Please pray for me as I continue my journey (it has been over 3 years now).